The Miami Dolphins kept their playoff hopes alive last week with a win against the San Francisco 49ers, but there’s a chance they’ll be eliminated before they even play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
With two weekends of regular season football left, the Dolphins need — along with a little other help — the Denver Broncos and/or the Los Angeles Chargers to lose their last two games.
On Saturday, the Chargers will face the New England Patriots on the road in a game kicking off at 1 p.m. ET. Then the Broncos will travel to play the Cincinnati Bengals with kickoff set for 4:30 p.m. ET.
If both the Chargers and the Broncos win those games, they’ll both improve to 10-6 and clinch the last two AFC postseason berths up for grabs.
Here’s how the AFC standings currently stack up:
- (z) Kansas City Chiefs: 15-1
- (y) Buffalo Bills: 12-3
- (x) Baltimore Ravens: 11-5
- (y) Houston Texans: 9-7
- (x) Pittsburgh Steelers: 10-6
- Los Angeles Chargers: 9-6
- Denver Broncos: 9-6
- Indianapolis Colts: 7-8
- Miami Dolphins: 7-8
- Cincinnati Bengals: 7-8
(x – clinched playoff berth)
(y – clinched division title)
(z – clinched first-round bye)
If one or both of the Chargers and Broncos lose on Saturday, the Dolphins can keep their playoff hopes alive into the final week of the regular season by beating the Browns.
On Thursday, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said the team’s focus won’t change, regardless of the Saturday results.
“Regardless if we’re still in it or not, you get to see a lot about who a person is by the way they go about their business,” Tagovailoa said. “You see guys laying down? That tells you a lot right there. You see guys fighting? I mean, that should tell you a lot as well.”
The Dolphins earned a spot in the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, but lost on Wild Card Weekend both times.
